Question

The patient in this case is a 57 year old female that has experienced joint pain for ~ 5 years. Her joints are becoming progressively deformed with swelling. Her physician decides to order a synovial fluid analysis, including a cell count, differential, RF, protein, glucose, LDH, and crystal analysis if indicated. He also orders blood work: Rheumatoid Factor and glucose level. Her results are as follows:

	Synovial Fluid Analysis	Serum Results
Appearance	Yellow/Cloudy
Protein	3.7 g/dL
Glucose	81 mg/dL	100 mg/dL
LDH	100 mg/dL
RF	Positive	Positive
Crystals	'none seen'
WBC	>25,000 WBCs/uL >50% segs + for ragocytes

Questions:

1. What do these results suggest that the patient has? Explain your answer, providing evidence to support your answer.

2. If the patient had gout., what would her results be instead?

Answer 1